Chapter 138 The Difference Between the Two Teams
Chapter 138 The Difference Between the Two Teams
Chapter 138 The Difference Between the Two Teams
Mu Qing pinned Zhao Dezhu to the ground and asked coldly, "Zhao Dezhu, what are you doing? You're such a big guy, how dare you bully a little girl!"
"Ouch! Sister Mu, be gentle, my arm is going to break!" Zhao Dezhu was pressed face to the ground, but he still tried to defend himself: "I'm innocent! I was just joking with Yao Yao, teasing the child. How could I really bully her? I may be a bit of a scoundrel, but I wouldn't stoop to such a low level."
"A joke?" Mu Qing raised an eyebrow, but her grip didn't loosen. She turned to look at Chen Yao, who was trembling beside her: "Yao Yao, is that so?"
Chen Yao bit her lip, her eyes red-rimmed, but she still told the truth: "He—he didn't do anything to me, but he's slacking off. This is the third time he's hidden here sleeping. When I said a few words to him, he got angry!"
The little girl was too naive; she thought that being lazy was an unforgivable crime in a group survival scenario, even more serious than bullying someone.
After listening, Mu Qing had a general idea of what was going on.
As long as it's not harassment or harm that constitutes a matter of principle, it's still within a controllable range.
She let go of his hand, stood up, and patted the dirt off her knees: "Alright, get up."
Zhao Dezhu felt like he had been granted a pardon. He grimaced as he got up from the ground, rubbing his almost dislocated shoulder, and said with a forced smile, "Hehe, I knew it, it was all a misunderstanding."
"Sister Mu, as you know, my old arms and legs aren't as nimble as the young people's. Taking a short rest is for the sake of building our home better."
Looking at this seasoned old fox, Mu Qing couldn't help but roll her eyes if they were in front of others.
This kind of cheating and shirking was not the first time it had happened in this hastily assembled team.
Zhao Dezhu is not an isolated case.
Those in their thirties are all smart people who have been in the workplace for a long time. Which one of them doesn't have some ulterior motives?
Making them fight tooth and nail for a vague and uncertain future, like these passionate high school students, would be worse than killing them.
But what could she do?
Drive them all away?
Then the team would immediately fall apart.
Severely punish them all?
People's hearts were scattered.
These dozen or so people were gathered together from various corners of the country after much persuasion and effort.
She practically used up all her saliva trying to persuade them to give up wasting their resources in the system's built-in "comfortable cabin" and instead come to live like wild people on this cliff.
She had to convince them that this wasn't a game of make-believe, but a real life-or-death struggle.
Only by sticking together and taking advantage of the terrain can we survive the upcoming cold wave.
Her team is like a big bubble; if even a small thorn pops out, it could explode at any moment.
Therefore, she could only try to smooth things over.
"Alright, stop being so cheeky."
Mu Qing rubbed her temples, suppressing her irritation, and turned to look at Chen Yao, her tone softening: "Yao Yao, I know you're doing this for everyone's good, but everyone's constitution and work style are different, so we can't generalize."
She paused, then pointed to the woods not far away: "There are some wild vegetables over there that need to be sorted and dried. You're meticulous, so I trust you the most to do this job. Go ahead, don't bother with this old fox."
"But—" Chen Yao wanted to say something, but seeing Mu Qing's tired eyes, she finally shut her mouth, nodded, and ran away.
After sending one end away, Mu Qing turned around and looked at Zhao Dezhu, who was still pretending to rub his shoulders.
"As for you, Zhao Dezhu."
Mu Qing's eyes were calm, revealing neither joy nor anger: "Since you don't want to move things, let's find another job. Go to the stream behind the house; there's a wild sugarcane grove there. Go and cut some down."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Dezhu's eyes immediately lit up.
That sugarcane field is quite a distance from here, and the trees are so dense that it's practically a natural paradise for catching fish!
Before he could even celebrate, Mu Qing continued, "I'll give you one hour. After one hour, I want to see at least ten bundles of sugarcane piled up in the camp. If you don't finish, I'll deduct two days' worth of your rations."
Zhao Dezhu, being a shrewd man, could easily see through the hidden meaning in those words.
That sugarcane field isn't far away; if we really wanted to work, we could cut ten bundles in twenty minutes.
The remaining forty minutes were his paid leave time.
"No problem, I guarantee I'll complete the task!"
Zhao Dezhu immediately perked up, stopped complaining of pain, grabbed the stone axe next to him, and happily scurried into the woods.
Watching Zhao Dezhu's departing figure, Mu Qing's tough facade vanished instantly.
Playing the big sister must be exhausting, you know.
She was just a young woman who had only been in the workforce for two or three years. She was just lucky to have been promoted to a senior management position and had some management experience.
In addition, she had good foresight and eventually took the lead in assembling this bubble team.
She let out a heavy sigh, leaning weakly against the rock wall, her teeth clenched tightly around her lower lip, her eyes filled with exhaustion and anxiety.
When will this cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul end?
Maintaining this fragile balance alone had exhausted all her energy.
What if some unexpected situation arises again—
On the distant deck, Su Jin lowered his binoculars and took in Mu Qing's momentary vulnerability.
"That's interesting."
Su Jin stroked his chin and couldn't help but smile: "This woman is a sensible person. She knows that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. She knows how to find a balance between rules and humanity, but—"
He shook his head slightly: "It's a pity, this mess is just too difficult to salvage."
At this moment, Li Yuanyuan, who was next to him, suddenly asked curiously, "If it were Brother Su, what would you do?"
Su Jin smiled slightly, looked at the somewhat dazed Li Yuanyuan, and asked in return, "I already gave you the answer before, didn't you notice?"
"Huh? When?" Li Yuanyuan looked bewildered, then turned to the most intelligent Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan shook her head, but then Shen Ruying spoke up.
"Yuanyuan, look at Daqing, who just joined the fleet. Brother Su let him cut down trees on the ship by himself, which actually gave that little fat guy some free time."
Li Yuanyuan tilted her head and asked, "Isn't this just like that middle-aged slacker? It just gives him a chance to slack off—"
"That's true." Su Jin raised an eyebrow. "But Sun Daqing will work very hard to cut down the trees. Have you noticed the difference?"
"That is, the leader of both, that woman, is just a makeshift team. If she leaves, the whole thing will collapse. But I, your Brother Su—I'm not afraid of that!"
Su Jin snorted and said with a hint of pride, "You can tell, right? I'm very confident, but she isn't. I'm not afraid of the crew leaving. The further along we go, the more people will want to board, and there will definitely not be enough seats."
"Simply put, her team offers no job security, no appeal, and is basically a company that pays out 3,000 yuan a month. You can leave whenever you want, it doesn't matter."
"And my fleet is a top-tier enterprise, with shares. As my crew, everyone can eat well, drink well, sleep comfortably, and have no need to worry about safety."
"If it were you, which one would you choose?"
Su Jin flicked Li Yuanyuan's little head with his finger. The adorable girl covered her forehead, her eyes no longer filled with doubt, clearly having figured it out.
That's right, that's the difference between the two. Only the weak beg from others, while the strong basically wait for others to beg them.
"Let's go, it's time for us to meet this—slightly unsuccessful female boss."
7
NABC